Debian considers GNU FDL conditionally free

March 16th, 2006

The Debian project has decided that documents distributed under the
GNU Free Documentation License (FDL) are considered free with regards
to the Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG) if they don't contain
any unmodifiable parts.

This decision has been been reached by a general resolution in which
all Debian developers had the opportunity to cast a ballot. 369
Debian developers have taken part in this vote and the majority of
them considers documents released under the GNU FDL suitable for the
main Debian archive as long as they don't contain unmodifiable
sections.

This decision relaxes the former interpretation of this situation,
after which all documents distributed under the GNU FDL had to be
removed from the archive. Some of them may be kept in the archive.

This vote has effect for the upcoming release of "etch" since this
outcome results in the need for many developers to check documentation
for unmodifiable parts. However, much documentation may be kept in
the main Debian archive even if it is licensed under the GNU FDL.

Details

About Debian

Debian GNU/Linux is a free operating system, developed by more than
thousand volunteers from all over the world who collaborate via the
Internet. Debian's dedication to Free Software, its non-profit nature,
and its open development model make it unique among GNU/Linux
distributions.

The Debian project's key strengths are its volunteer base, its dedication
to the Debian Social Contract, and its commitment to provide the best
operating system possible. Debian 3.1 is another important step in that
direction.

Contact Information

For further information, please visit the Debian web pages at
https://www.debian.org/ or send mail to
<press@debian.org>.